Jack Dura / Bismarck Tribune
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BISMARCK — Remote access to North Dakota court records is a bit closer to becoming a reality. The state Supreme Court returned a proposal to rewrite Administrative Rule 41 — which governs public access to court records — to the Court Services Administration Committee to consider public comments received on the draft. The committee met Jan. 18 to review the comments.
BISMARCK -- Lawmakers and pet lovers debated the efficacy of a bill to crack down on animal cruelty in North Dakota — with one legislator asking if voting rights extend to animals. Rep. Mary Adams, D-Grand Forks, introduced House Bill 1445 to the House Agriculture Committee to prohibit convicted animal abusers from acquiring other animals. Rep. Craig Headland, R-Montpelier, posed to her what "equates to torture" and how her bill would affect animal agriculture, given its "broad" language.
MEDORA, N.D. — President Theodore Roosevelt's great-great-grandson sees Medora as a meaningful location for his famous forefather's presidential library. "His time here was very impactful for him," said Theodore "Ted" Roosevelt V. "It’s something for him where he had a deep love of the state, a deep love of the place when he left." President Roosevelt ranched and hunted in Dakota Territory's Little Missouri Badlands near Medora in the 1880s, where he also recovered from the deaths of his wife and mother in 1884.
BISMARCK - When North Dakota passed a sweeping cottage foods law in 2017, LeAnn Harner said it was enough. "We don't want to feed the world. We just want to feed our communities," said Harner, who runs a goat dairy and helped guide the previous legislation. Sen. Jerry Klein, R-Fessenden, is introducing Senate Bill 2269 to bring what he says is clarification and consistency to the existing law. Cottage food proponents say the bill restricts items eligible for sales.
BISMARCK - A Fargo representative's bills aimed at restricting aspects of smoking failed Monday in the North Dakota House of Representatives. Fargo Democratic-NPL Rep. Pamela Anderson introduced House Bill 1274, which would have banned smoking in a vehicle with a child younger than 9, and House Bill 1236, which would have raised the purchasing age for tobacco to 19. HB1274 failed by 31-57 and HB1236 failed by 25-63 in the House. Both bills received do not pass recommendations from the House Human Services Committee.
MEDORA — Kitty corner from Demores Elementary School in Medora, a life-size statue of President Theodore Roosevelt stares across the road. "It seems like a real person every time you drive by it," teacher Markie Toso said. Roosevelt looms large in Medora, where he came in 1883 to hunt bison and soon after began ranching operations along the Little Missouri River. He later said he wouldn't have been president were it not for his time in North Dakota, where he ranched, hunted and recovered from the simultaneous deaths of his wife and mother in 1884.
BISMARCK — A North Dakota lawmaker is introducing legislation to seek a new state logo, citing what he says is wide dissatisfaction with the new brand. Rep. Marvin Nelson, D-Rolla — the Democratic-NPL nominee for governor in 2016 — is the primary sponsor of House Bill 1457. The bill would direct the state Department of Commerce to oversee a contest for entrants to create a new logo to be selected in time for the state's 2020 travel guide. HB1457 appropriates $90,000 for contest winners, including $50,000 for first place.
BISMARCK — New governors for Minnesota and South Dakota took office this month, presenting new relationships for North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum on shared interests. Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was sworn in Jan. 5 and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, took office Jan. 7. Both are former members of Congress who successfully sought their states' governor's seat in November as their predecessors marked their final term.
BISMARCK - Gov. Doug Burgum testified Wednesday to North Dakota legislators for the first time. Appearing for 30 minutes on Jan. 9 before the House Appropriations Committee's Education and Environment Division, the governor outlined his Legacy Fund proposal to build the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Museum at Medora.
BISMARCK — Aaron Dorn has a new car. He recently bought a 1995 Toyota Avalon. But it's not what he previously had as a traveling antique vendor based out of upstate New York. "Without a truck, I can't really do anything," Dorn said. Dorn forfeited his 2003 Chevrolet Silverado last summer, when a judge ruled his truck was used to commit a crime during a protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 in Mandan. "That really set me back quite a bit," Dorn said.